Saudi Arabia says drones launched from Iraq struck its East-West pipeline, forcing a precautionary shutdown (Dawn).
What was hit
The pipeline running from Abqaiq, on the Gulf, to Yanbu on the Red Sea.
The Saudi foreign ministry described “the targeting of the East-West pipeline in the Riyadh and Medina regions by several drones coming from Iraq, which caused human injuries and damage”.
The energy ministry said: “The pipeline was stopped as a precaution, and the attacks resulted in some injuries.”
Why this particular pipeline
Because it is the route that exists specifically to avoid the Strait of Hormuz. Crude that would otherwise leave through the Gulf can be pumped west and loaded on the Red Sea instead.
With shipping through Hormuz already under attack, the East-West line is the alternative — and it has now been hit too. That is what makes this different from the attacks on southern Saudi cities this week: those struck production and refining, this struck the bypass.
Iraq’s position
The office of Iraqi prime minister Ali al-Zaidi confirmed the attack came from Iraqi territory and dismissed the commander of southern Maysan province. The government said it “condemned the attacks targeting our brethren in the Kingdom”.
A government acknowledging that an attack on a neighbour was launched from its own soil, and sacking a regional commander, is an unusually direct admission. It also raises the question the statement does not answer: who launched them, and whether the state knew.
The market
Oil climbed past $100 a barrel, and US diesel topped $6 for the first time.
Pakistani pump prices rose for a fifth consecutive day on Saturday, with diesel crossing Rs400.
What is not established
No group has claimed the attack. The pipeline’s capacity, the extent of the damage, the number of injuries and the length of the shutdown have not been published. Saudi Arabia has not said whether it holds the Iraqi state responsible.
[Image: Reuters via Dawn]
